Accessing health care and health information for your child

Accessing health care and health information for your child

This project is being undertaken as part of Doctor of Philosophy (Psychology) project through the University of Southern Queensland.

The purpose of this project is to explore where you look for health information for your child, so that access to health information can be improved.

To complete this survey, you need to have a child who is aged under 5 years. The online survey will take approximately 10 minutes to complete.  Your participation in this project is entirely voluntary. If you do not wish to take part, you are not obliged to. If you decide to take part and later change your mind, you are free to withdraw from the project at any stage. If you change your mind about completing the survey, then you just need to shut down your browser. Your decision whether you take part, do not take part, or take part and then withdraw will in no way impact your current or future relationship with the University of Southern Queensland.

Questions on the survey may include:

Have you taken your child to a GP or medical specialist in the past 12 months?

Have you used the 13HEALTH / Poisons information phone number/s in the past 12 months?

Have you looked for health information about your child on an electronic device such as a phone or computer in the past 12 months?

At the end of the survey, you will also be invited to participate in a follow-up interview which will focus on how you find out health information when your child is sick.

If you do not want to take part in the interviews, you can still complete the survey.

To participate in the interviews, there is a prompt at the end of the survey where you can leave your name and contact details. The interviewer will then contact you to arrange a suitable time for the interview. It is anticipated that the interview will take no longer than 60 minutes. The interview can be conducted over the phone, face-to-face, or video chat (through zoom or team meetings).

Interview questions may include:

How often do you use the internet to look for health information for your child?

What websites / social media pages do you use when you use the internet to look for health information?

What things do you look for when deciding the health information is good for your child?

Your participation in all or part of this project is entirely voluntary. If you do not wish to take part, you are not obliged to. You can complete the survey but not take part in the interview, or you can complete the survey and take part in the interview. It is your choice. If you decide to take part and later change your mind, you are free to withdraw from the project at any stage.

 You are welcome to share the link for the survey with your family and friends, who have a child under the age of 5 years.

Your survey and interview responses will be kept in the USQ secure cloud storage. You will be unable to withdraw data collected about yourself after the data has been analysed. However, you will not be able to be identified in the data.

If you do wish to withdraw from this project, please contact the Research Team (contact details are listed at the top of this form). Your participation will involve completion of an online questionnaire that will take approximately 10 minutes of your time.

It is expected that this project will not directly benefit you. However, the results of this project may inform health services of ways to improve access for families with young children to easily available health information.

Everyone who fully completes the survey will be entered into a draw for a $40, Woolworths essential gift card.

The prize draw will occur on the 01/08/2023, at the close of the questionnaire. The winner will be contacted by text message and email of their prize.

All interview participants will receive a $50 Woolworths essentials gift card at the completion of the interview. 

In participating in the questionnaire, there are no anticipated risks beyond normal day-to-day living. In participating in the interview, it is possible you may feel upset or discomfort reflecting on the health needs of your child. If you feel upset or distressed, you may contact the following organisations for support.

Lifeline 24/7 hotline 13 11 14

Beyond Blue 1300 224 636

Your local GP or Psychological professional

Your local hospital. 

All comments and responses are confidential unless required by law.

Contact details are required for entry into the prize draw, and if you consent to be contacted to participate in the interviews.

All responses will be deidentified prior to analysis and storage.

Any data, including contact details collected as a part of this project will be stored securely, as per University of Southern Queensland’s Research Data and Primary Materials Management Procedure.

Access to the project results can be obtained from the researchers whose details are listed at the end of the project. Please email the researchers on the above email addresses.

Clicking on the ‘Submit’ button at the conclusion of the questionnaire is accepted as an indication of your consent to participate in this project.

Please refer to the Research team contact details at the top of the form to have any questions answered or to request further information about this project.

If you have any concerns or complaints about the ethical conduct of the project, you may contact the University of Southern Queensland, Manager of Research Integrity and Ethics on +61 7 4631 1839 or email researchintegrity@usq.edu.au. The Manager of Research Integrity and Ethics is not connected with the research project and can address your concern in an unbiased manner.

Thank you for taking the time to help with this research project. Please keep this document for your information.